Quoted By:
[ Hello, very sorry for the wait. I had a bit of a real-life emergency yesterday. Episode 2 begins now! ]
"Oof... "
You wake up like someone's taken a power drill to your skull.
The room is swirling, and whirling, and finally comes to a dizzy stop. You're staring at the off-white ceiling and single, hanging lightbulb of your rented room. Wait... you lift your head and realize you're lying on a couch you don't recognize. Your head is killing you, but the rest of your body feels out of sorts, too. This is the worst hangover you've had since your Civil Service days, when you and a few other trainees would pitch in for the chapest liquor available and get blind-drunk in strangers' farmland, prodding sleeping beast-oxen and running away in crooked directions under the moonlight. You figured those days were over. You've never been good at holding your liquor.
You look around the room and recognize the same furnishings as your own, but with more than a few additions: most enviably a mini-fridge, which looks brand new. You're still wearing the clothes you purchased yesterday, though a blanket's been laid over you. You're almost afraid to rip it off. Various empty cans of Kelpie--the cheapest pilsner brand, and coincidentally the favorite of bounty hunters around here--lay strewn about the cold floor. It must be noon already.
"Finally up?" Oh, it's Hassan. He's kneeling and facing the balcony of his apartment, with his back turned away from you. As he rises to his feet you notice a makeshift altar with a single branch gently emitting smoke. Is that incense? No, you don't recognize the smell. You wonder if this is some kind of religious practice; or, more likely, a form of appeasement for his displeased spirits.
"You <span class="mu-i">really</span> let it rip last night," He starts, with an expression of secondhand embarrassment. He looks freshly showered, while you feel like you've become part of this couch. Slowly, last night's memories start to come back, though much of it is still a blur. Of course. After all the business at the Chaotzakka Condemned Zone, the explosive finale, and the shocking reimbursement, you splurged on new purchases and, in your revelry, joined a wild party at the Saturn Apartments courtyard. You panic for a second and helplessly reach around your body, looking to confirm that your belongings are still here somewhere.
"Relax," Hassan continues. "I put all your stuff in your room. I think what you need now is a shower and a warm meal. And maybe a nice nap in your own place." He says this without malice, but with clear intent for you to leave sometime soon. Still, you get the warm feeling that he can't help stifling a laugh. Even if you made a fool of yourself last night, you get a sense of camaraderie, surely stemming from your shared experiences at the Zone. You suspect that you're becoming fast friends.
But, what exactly <span class="mu-i">did</span> you do last night? You cast back your mind, and the memories begin to emerge from the murk...
